France's La Liste Ranks the World's Top 1000 Restaurants

Karla Alindahao
, ContributorI write about travel and food. So I love forks in the road.Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

The world has a new best restaurant. Again.

Three-Michelin-starred Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville in Switzerland was recently named the finest in world by La Liste—an initiative sanctioned by France’s Foreign Ministry and tourism board, meant to counter the UK-basedWorld’s 50 Best Restaurants.The new ranking will undoubtedly get competitive fine diners’ tongues wagging (and salivating) as it names 1000 top establishments in 48 countries.

Japan tops the list geographically with 126 entries, including Tokyo’s introduction-only Kyo Aji (no. 3 worldwide). France comes in second with 118, two of which made the global top ten. While the United States ranks third, with 101 restaurants on La Liste’s extensive roster. (New York’s Per Se is no. 2 in the overall list; while the city is home to six out of the country’s top ten). Rather refreshingly, China came in fourth—with 69 entries that weren't limited to Hong Kong or Macau.

El Celler de Can Roca in Spain ranks no. 6 in La Liste. (It also ranks no. 1 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants list.)

La Liste—unlike Michelin or the World’s 50 Best Restaurants—uses an algorithm (aptly named Ciacco, a glutton from Dante’s Inferno) instead of anonymous “inspectors.” Developed by systems architect Antoine Ribaut, son of former Le Monde food critic Jean-Claude, the list factors in 200 international dining guides, crowd-sourced sites (such as Yelp and TripAdvisor), plus New York Times and Washington Post reviews. It also takes into consideration Zagat, Michelin, the James Beard Award, Gault & Millau, OpenTable, and more.